YA Review: CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber

I did not read nearly as much as I thought I would on our trip to Australia, but it’s because I was busy doing things like holding koalas and feeding kangaroos. Actually, I ticked those off my bucket list on our first day there while visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary outside Brisbane. I highly…

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YA Review: LOVE & GELATO by Jenna Evans Welch

Happy New Year! I’m a few weeks late, but I have excellent excuses–er, reasons. I was across the country for the first week of the year, doing things like attending my first Defense Against the Dark Arts class. (And, no, I’m not too old for Hogwarts.) Then I spent two weeks furiously revising so I…

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My Favorite Reads of 2016

I know it’s only Dec. 22, but I’m flying away to California (!!!) on Saturday to spend Christmas with family, so I’m knocking it out early. The last time I posted this list early, I ended up binge-reading a series the final week of the year that totally would have edged out something on my…

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YA Review: IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Hello there! Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been away from the blog this long. Sorry about that. Almost immediately after I finished drafting, I started working on a revision that has completely consumed me. And as for reviewing, well, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. It’s not that I haven’t read…

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YA Review: TWO SUMMERS by Aimee Friedman

I love books–and movies, for that matter–that play with time and space. When I came across the description for TWO SUMMERS by Aimee Friedman, I was intrigued by the premise. How much difference can one decision make? I really liked the way this story explored the question. ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed…

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MMGM: THE SLEEPOVER by Jen Malone

I’ve had THE SLEEPOVER since the NESCBWI Conference this spring, when I finally got to meet Jen Malone in person. I’ve reviewed several of her books and even interviewed Jen for her debut, AT YOUR SERVICE. (Also see my reviews for YOU’RE INVITED and WANDERLOST.) I planned to jump right into this book as well,…

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YA Review: P.S. I LIKE YOU by Kasie West

I don’t know where the month of August went reading-wise. I guess I spent it reading that romance novel series I mentioned in my post about reading just for fun :). I have to admit that as much as I was enjoying my romance novels, it’s quite a long series and I started longing for…

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Sometimes You Should Just Read for Fun

This summer I started and set aside four young adult novels in a row. They were all books I thought I should read for one reason or another. An agent I was interested in querying represented the book. A writer I respected wrote the book. A writer I respected recommended the book. Or dozens of…

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YA Review: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM by Kerstin Gier

I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since I reviewed a young adult book, but that’s all right. I enjoyed catching up on the middle grade, too. Today I’m reviewing a book I picked up because I thought it might work as a comp title for my violin story, and the magic side…

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YA Review: WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED by Kristin Rae

I really enjoyed Kristin Rae’s debut, WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN, so I expected to like her latest, WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED, but it turns out I liked it even more. So that means I need to gush about it here with a full review. Theatre girl Maddie Brooks has always had high standards for guys….

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YA Review: NOT IN THE SCRIPT by Amy Finnegan

I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve picked up in Bloomsbury’s If Only series, so I’m not surprised to add NOT IN THE SCRIPT by Amy Finnegan to that list. It doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for anything to do with movies. (Yes, like many authors, I not-so-secretly hope that one day I’ll write…

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